Information processing apparatus, operation determination method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus includes a touch sensor configured to detect a touch position on an input surface touched with a pointer. The information processing apparatus is configured to receive, depending on whether or not a linear locus of the touch position on the input surface starts from inside an operation start region set on the input surface, the linear locus of the touch position as any one of a first operation and a second operation different from the first operation on an image that is displayed on a predetermined display. The operation start region is determined based on at least one of an operation status of the pointer and a display state of the image.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, anoperation determination method, and a storage medium for using a touchinterface as its user interface.

Description of the Related Art

A touch panel, which is a combination of a display and a touch sensorconfigured to detect a touch position, is often used as a touchinterface that enables a user to perform a touch operation by directlytouching an input surface with, for example, a finger or a stylus pen(hereinafter referred to as “pointer”). In some cases, the size of anexecution screen of application software displayed on a display islarger than that of a display screen of the display. In such cases,there is provided, as a general function, a function of scrolling theexecution screen by the user moving a pointer in a sliding manner on theinput surface of the touch sensor. The operation of moving a pointer ina sliding manner on the input surface of the touch sensor is referred toas “swiping”.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2013-200882, there isdisclosed an information processing apparatus for performing apredetermined operation by detecting swiping that starts from a specificregion, which is set at an end portion of a display screen, toward aninner side of the display screen. In this specification, swiping thatstarts from the specific region, which is set at an end portion of adisplay screen, toward an inner side of the display screen is referredto as “edge swiping”. Further, the specific region is referred to as“operation start region”.

In order to widely scroll the execution screen of application softwaredisplayed on a display, the movement distance of the pointer needs to beincreased at the time of swiping. However, a device in which edgeswiping is associated with an operation different from the instructionof scrolling may determine an operation of starting swiping from the endportion of the display screen with an increased movement distance of thepointer as edge swiping (operation different from the instruction ofscrolling). When the operation start region is set smaller to avoiddetermination of edge swiping, edge swiping cannot be performed easily.Therefore, there is a demand for an information processing apparatusthat has improved operability of a touch operation by clearlydistinguishing between normal swiping and edge swiping.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is providedan information processing apparatus, including: a position detectionunit configured to detect a touch position on an input surface touchedwith a predetermined pointer; a region determination unit configured todetermine the predetermined region based on at least one of an operationstatus of the predetermined pointer and a display state of the image;and a reception unit configured to receive, depending on whether or nota linear locus of the touch position on the input surface starts frominside a predetermined region set on the input surface, the linear locusof the touch position as any one of a first operation and a secondoperation different from the first operation on an image that isdisplayed on a predetermined display.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are explanatory diagrams for illustrating aninformation processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for illustrating touch operation determinationprocessing.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for illustrating processing of determining anoperation start region.

FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, FIG. 4C, and FIG. 4D are flowcharts for illustratingprocessing of determining the operation start region.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, and FIG. 5D are explanatory diagrams forillustrating processing of determining the operation start region.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating processing of determining theoperation start region.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are exemplary tables for showing conditions ofsetting the operation start region.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Now, an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail withreference to the drawings. Note that, components described in thisembodiment are merely exemplary components, and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention to those components.

An information processing apparatus of this embodiment is configured todetermine the size of an operation start region from which an operationis started with a pointer such as a finger or a stylus pen at the timeof edge swiping, at least based on an operation status of a user or adisplay state of an image displayed on a display screen. “Swiping” inthis embodiment refers to an operation of moving a finger on a touchdetection region in a manner of sliding in a uniform direction. “Edgeswiping” is a name particularly used for distinguishing between swipingfrom an operation start region, which is defined at an end portion of adisplay screen, toward an inner side of the display screen and swipingfrom outside the operation start region toward an arbitrary direction.In general, edge swiping is often used in association with processing ofreturning to a previous image or a previous tab when swiping isperformed from inside the operation start region placed at a left endportion of the screen. FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are each an explanatorydiagram for illustrating an information processing apparatus forexecuting such processing.

FIG. 1A is a hardware configuration diagram for illustrating aninformation processing apparatus 100. The information processingapparatus 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a read onlymemory (ROM) 102, and a random access memory (RAM) 103. A touch sensor107, a display 108, and an external storage device 109 are connected tothe information processing apparatus 100. For this reason, theinformation processing apparatus 100 includes an input interface (I/F)104, an output interface (I/F) 105, and an input/output interface (I/F)106. The CPU 101, the ROM 102, the RAM 103, the input I/F 104, theoutput I/F 105, and the input/output I/F 106 are connected to oneanother for communication via a system bus 110.

The CPU 101 is configured to read a computer program for controlling anoperation of the information processing apparatus 100 from at least oneof the ROM 102 and the external storage device 109, and to execute theprogram using the RAM 103 as a work area. Through this processing, theCPU 101 executes various processing by the information processingapparatus 100. In addition to the work area, the RAM 103 provides anarea for saving data at the time of error handling and an area forloading a computer program.

The input/output I/F 106 is an interface between the informationprocessing apparatus 100 and the external storage device 109, and isconfigured to read a computer program stored in, for example, theexternal storage device 109 and store data in the external storagedevice 109. The external storage device 109 is, for example, a hard diskdrive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SDD). Further, the external storagedevice 109 can be implemented by, for example, a medium (storage medium)and an external storage drive for allowing access to the medium. Aflexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a DVD, a USB memory, an MO, and a flashmemory are known as examples of such a medium. Further, the externalstorage device 109 may be, for example, a server device connected to theinformation processing apparatus 100 via a network. In this embodiment,necessary information is held in the RAM 103 or the external storagedevice 109.

The input I/F 104 is an interface configured to acquire data indicatinga touch operation by the user on the touch sensor 107 serving as aninput device, and to input the data into the CPU 101. The touch sensor107 is a position detection device including an input surface on which atouch operation is performed with a pointer, which is configured todetect a touch position on the input surface touched with the pointerand transmit the touch position to the information processing apparatus100 together with the detection time. The touch sensor 107 isimplemented as, for example, a resistive touch sensor, a capacitivetouch sensor, an infrared touch sensor, an ultrasonic touch sensor, anacoustic touch sensor, or a dispersive signal touch sensor. In othercases, the touch sensor 107 may be a device capable of detecting aposition in a three dimensional space, such as a distance image sensoror a stereo camera, and configured to detect whether or not the pointerhas touched the input surface and acquire the touch position on theinput surface.

The output I/F 105 is an interface configured to transmit, to thedisplay 108 serving as an output device, data representing an image tobe displayed on the display 108. The display 108 is configured todisplay an image corresponding to the data acquired from the output I/F105. The image to be displayed on the display 108 is, for example, anexecution result of various types of processing executed by theinformation processing apparatus 100. The display 108 is implemented as,for example, a liquid crystal display, a television monitor, or aprojector.

In this embodiment, a touch panel 111 is used, which is constructed bysuperimposing the capacitive touch sensor 107 that is a transparentsheet on the display screen of the display 108. The surface of the touchsensor 107 placed on the display screen of the display 108 serves as theinput surface. The touch sensor 107 and the display 108 may beintegrated to be used as a display with a built-in touch sensor. In thisembodiment, the touch panel 111 is configured to detect a surface regionon which the pointer and the surface (input surface) of the touch panel111 are in contact with each other, and to identify coordinates of onepoint within the surface region as a touch position for input to theinformation processing apparatus 100.

FIG. 1B is a functional block diagram for illustrating the informationprocessing apparatus 100. In this embodiment, the information processingapparatus 100 implements functions of FIG. 1B by the CPU 101 executing acomputer program. FIG. 1B is an illustration of functions fordistinguishing between swiping and edge swiping. The informationprocessing apparatus 100 functions as an operation status acquisitionunit 121, a display state acquisition unit 122, a region determinationunit 123, a swipe reception unit 124, and an output control unit 125.Each of the functions may be implemented at least in part by hardware.

The operation status acquisition unit 121 is configured to acquireoperation status information representing a status of an operationperformed by the user with the pointer on the input surface based on thedata acquired from the touch sensor 107 via the input I/F 104. Theoperation status acquisition unit 121 acquires data at a predeterminedtime interval from the touch sensor 107. The data acquired by theoperation status acquisition unit 121 at least contains the touchposition of the pointer and a detection time of the touch position. Whenthe pointer is away from the input surface, the touch sensor 107 outputsdata indicating that the touch position is not detected. On the basis ofthe data acquired from the touch sensor 107 at a predetermined timeinterval, the operation status acquisition unit 121 acquires, as theoperation status information, movement of the pointer on the inputsurface from the start of the touch operation to the end thereof, aperiod of time since the touch operation has been completed, a period oftime during which an operation is not performed (non-operation period),and other kinds of information.

The display state acquisition unit 122 is configured to acquire displaystate information representing a display state of an image displayed onthe display 108. For example, an image of a part of the execution screenof application software is displayed on the display 108. On the basis ofthe image displayed on the display 108, the display state acquisitionunit 122 acquires, as the display state information, a period of timeduring which a new image is displayed after transition of images, ascrollable amount, an information quantity of content contained in adisplayed image, and other kinds of information. The display stateacquisition unit 122 acquires those kinds of display state informationbased on, for example, data for displaying an image on the display 108.

The region determination unit 123 is configured to determine anoperation start region based on at least one of the operation statusinformation acquired by the operation status acquisition unit 121 andthe display state information acquired by the display state acquisitionunit 122. As described later, the information processing apparatus 100determines swiping whose start position is located within the operationstart region as edge swiping. The operation start region has a definedreference region whose size, shape, and position are used as areference. The region determination unit 123 determines the size, shape,and position of the operation start region based on the operation statusinformation, the display state information, and the reference region.For example, when at least one of the operation status information andthe display state information satisfies a predetermined condition, theregion determination unit 123 changes at least one of the size, shape,and position of the reference region to determine the operation startregion, and when the condition is no longer satisfied, returns theoperation start region to the reference region. Further, the regiondetermination unit 123 may hold data defining the size, shape, andposition of the operation start region for each combination of theoperation status information and the display state information, anddetermine the operation start region based on the held datacorresponding to the acquired operation status information and displaystate information. In this case, the reference region is unnecessary.

In the case of determining the operation start region based on theoperation status information, for example, when a period of time sincethe user has scrolled an image is equal to or less than a predeterminedperiod of time, the region determination unit 123 sets the operationstart region smaller than the reference region. Accordingly, swiping isdetermined for a larger region, whereas edge swiping is determined for asmaller region. Through a reduction of the operation start region,swiping is less likely to be determined as edge swiping. Thus, forexample, the user can easily scroll an image continuously in the samedirection, or readily scroll an image back in the opposite directionwhen the user has scrolled the image more than necessary.

In the case of determining the operation start region based on thedisplay state information, for example, when a period of time since animage displayed on the display 108 has transitioned to a new image fordisplay is equal to or less than a predetermined period of time, theregion determination unit 123 sets the operation start region largerthan the reference region. Accordingly, swiping is determined for asmaller region, whereas edge swiping is determined for a larger region.Through the increase of the operation start region, swiping is morelikely to be determined as edge swiping. Thus, for example, the user caneasily return to the previous image immediately after the image hastransitioned.

In the case of determining the operation start region based on theoperation status information and the display state information, forexample, the region determination unit 123 calculates a period of timenecessary for the user to understand content based on the informationquantity of the content contained in the display state information. Whenthe non-operation period contained in the operation status informationis more than the period of time necessary for the user to understand thecontent, the region determination unit 123 sets the operation startregion smaller than the reference region. Accordingly, swiping isdetermined for a larger region, whereas edge swiping is determined for asmaller region. Through reduction of the operation start region, swipingis less likely to be determined as edge swiping. Thus, for example,after understanding the content, the user can easily scroll the image tomove to the next content.

The swipe reception unit 124 is configured to receive a linear locus ofthe touch position on the input surface formed by the pointer as a touchoperation. For example, the swipe reception unit 124 determines a touchoperation, which corresponds to a linear locus of the touch position onthe input surface formed by the pointer starting from inside theoperation start region and extending toward the inner side of the inputsurface for a predetermined distance or more, as edge swiping for areception. Further, the swipe reception unit 124 determines a touchoperation, which corresponds to a linear locus of the touch position onthe input surface formed by the pointer starting from outside theoperation start region and extending for a predetermined distance ormore, as swiping for reception. In this embodiment, the operation startregion may be arranged on each of top, bottom, left, and right endportions of the input surface. The arrangement position is not limitedto the four top, bottom, left, and right end portions of the inputsurface, and may be a part thereof. When the locus of the touch positionformed by the pointer does not extend for the predetermined distance ormore, the information processing apparatus 100 determines that anothertouch operation such as tapping or holding down is performed.

The output control unit 125 is configured to transmit data fordisplaying an image to the display 108. The display 108 is configured todisplay an image corresponding to the data. For example, the outputcontrol unit 125 causes the display 108 to display an imagecorresponding to the touch position of the pointer. When the swipereception unit 124 determines the touch operation as edge swiping, theoutput control unit 125 causes the display 108 to display an imagecorresponding to the position of edge swiping.

For example, when the swipe reception unit 124 determines the touchoperation as edge swiping starting from the left end portion of theinput surface toward the inner side, the output control unit 125 causesthe display 108 to display an image that has been displayed until justbefore. In this manner, the user can return to the previous display ofan image. When the swipe reception unit 124 determines the touchoperation as swiping, the output control unit 125 causes the display 108to display an image that follows the touch position of the pointer. Inthis manner, it is possible to scroll an image in accordance with thetouch position. When another touch operation other than swiping or edgeswiping is performed, the output control unit 125 causes the display 108to display an image corresponding to the another touch operation.

The information processing apparatus 100 as configured above can beimplemented by a device including a touch interface, such as asmartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer including a touchpanel.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for illustrating touch operation determinationprocessing performed by the information processing apparatus 100. Theinformation processing apparatus 100 determines a touch operation as anyone of edge swiping, swiping, and another operation through thisprocessing. The information processing apparatus 100 performs thisprocessing in response to data acquisition from the touch sensor 107.The information processing apparatus 100 acquires data from the touchsensor 107 at a fixed time interval. The data acquired from the touchsensor 107 represents the position (touch position) on the input surfaceof the touch sensor 107 touched by the user with a pointer or representsthat the touch position is not detected.

The operation status acquisition unit 121 acquires the touch position onthe input surface of the pointer based on the data acquired from thetouch sensor 107 (Step S201). When the data acquired from the touchsensor 107 represents that the touch position is not detected, theoperation status acquisition unit 121 acquires information representingthat the pointer is not touching the input surface.

The operation status acquisition unit 121 determines whether or not theacquired touch position has moved (Step S202). The operation statusacquisition unit 121 has acquired data from the touch sensor 107 at afixed time interval, and thus determines whether or not the touchposition has moved based on a difference between the touch position thatis based on the previously acquired data and the current touch position.For example, when the difference in touch position is a predeterminedthreshold value or more, the operation status acquisition unit 121determines that the touch position has moved. When the touch positionhas not moved (Step S202: N), the information processing apparatus 100determines the current touch operation as neither one of edge swipingnor swiping, to end this processing.

When the touch position has moved (Step S202: Y), the swipe receptionunit 124 determines whether or not the touch position at the time whenthe touch operation has started is located within the operation startregion (Step S203). The swipe reception unit 124 holds the touchposition at the time when the touch operation has started. The swipereception unit 124 performs this determination based on the held touchposition.

When the touch position at the time when the touch operation has startedis located within the operation start region (Step S203: Y), the swipereception unit 124 determines whether or not the touch position hasmoved toward the inner side of the input surface (Step S204). The swipereception unit 124 determines whether or not the touch position hasmoved toward the inner side of the input surface based on the touchposition at the time when the touch operation has started and thecurrently acquired touch position.

When the touch position has moved toward the inner side of the inputsurface (Step S204: Y), the swipe reception unit 124 determines thetouch operation as edge swiping. In this case, the output control unit125 causes the display 108 to display an image that is based on edgeswiping (Step S205). For example, when the touch operation is edgeswiping starting from the left end portion of the input surface towardthe inner side, the output control unit 125 causes the display 108 todisplay the previously displayed image.

When the touch position at the time when the touch operation has startedis not located in the operation start region (Step S203: N), or when thetouch position has not moved toward the inner side of the input surface(Step S204: N), the swipe reception unit 124 determines the touchoperation as swiping. In this case, the output control unit 125 causesthe display 108 to display an image that is based on swiping (StepS206). For example, when the touch operation is swiping from left toright on the input surface, the output control unit 125 causes thedisplay 108 to display an image in such a manner that an image that hasbeen displayed is moved toward the right direction.

Through the processing described above, the information processingapparatus 100 determines the touch operation as any one of edge swiping,swiping, and another operation, and causes the display 108 to display animage corresponding to the specifics of operation. The threshold valuefor determining whether or not the touch position has moved in Step S202may be set to a different value depending on whether the touch operationis edge swiping or swiping. In this case, the information processingapparatus 100 determines whether or not the touch position at the timewhen the touch operation has started is located within the operationstart region before determining whether or not the touch position hasmoved. In other words, the information processing apparatus 100 performsthe processing of Step S203 before the processing of Step S202. Theoperation status acquisition unit 121 holds two threshold values, andperforms the processing of Step S202 using any one of those valuesdepending on the processing result of Step S203.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D are flowcharts each for illustratingprocessing of determining the operation start region. As describedabove, the region determination unit 123 determines the operation startregion based on at least one of the operation status information and thedisplay state information. For this reason, the information processingapparatus 100 acquires the operation status information with theoperation status acquisition unit 121 (Step S301), and acquires thedisplay state information with the display state acquisition unit 122(Step S302). The region determination unit 123 sets the operation startregion based on at least one of the operation status information and thedisplay state information (Step S303). When the region determinationunit 123 determines the operation start region based on the operationstatus information, the processing of Step S302 may not be performed.When the region determination unit 123 determines the operation startregion based on the display state information, the processing of StepS301 may not be performed.

When the user performs swiping within a period immediately afterscrolling an image, in many cases, the user scrolls the image again inthe same direction as before or scrolls the image to return to theprevious display, rather than performing edge swiping. In this context,“period immediately after scrolling an image” means a period of timethat is too short for the user to fully understand the content of animage (for example, read text) displayed as a result of the scrolling.When the user performs swiping again in this period, it can beconsidered that the scroll amount is more likely to be slightly adjustedcompared to the possibility of the user having understood the contentdisplayed as a result of the scrolling and starting the next operation.In short, immediately after the user performs swiping to scroll animage, swiping is more likely to be performed again than edge swiping.In the following, the operation start region is determined based on thisassumption. FIG. 4A is a flowchart for illustrating processing ofdetermining the operation start region when the user performs swiping toscroll an image.

In this case, in the processing of FIG. 3, the operation statusacquisition unit 121 acquires a period of time since the user hasperformed swiping to scroll an image as the operation status information(Step S301). For example, the operation status acquisition unit 121holds a time at which the pointer used to perform swiping to scroll animage is away from the input surface, and acquires a period of timeelapsed since the time. The display state acquisition unit 122 does notneed to acquire the display state information.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the periodof time elapsed since the user has scrolled an image is equal to or lessthan a predetermined threshold period based on the operation statusinformation acquired by the operation status acquisition unit 121 (StepS401). When the period of time is equal to or less than the thresholdperiod (Step S401: Y), the region determination unit 123 sets theoperation start region smaller than the reference region (Step S402).For example, the region determination unit 123 sets the operation startregion such that a perpendicular distance from the end of the inputsurface is shorter than that of the reference region. The regiondetermination unit 123 may prepare a region smaller than the referenceregion as the operation start region in advance. In other cases, theregion determination unit 123 may dynamically deform the referenceregion depending on the period of time elapsed since the user hasscrolled an image, to thereby set the operation start region. Forexample, the region determination unit 123 sets the operation startregion smaller as the period of time elapsed since the user has scrolledan image becomes shorter. The region determination unit 123 may hold atable defining the operation start region whose size is differentdepending on the period of time elapsed since the user has scrolled animage, or may calculate the perpendicular distance from the end of theinput surface depending on the elapsed period of time, to set theoperation start region. Further, the region determination unit 123 maydeform the shape of the operation start region. For example, swipingfrom left to right is performed near the center of the input surface inthe longitudinal direction in many cases, and thus the regiondetermination unit 123 may deform the shape of the operation startregion such that the distance from the end of the input surface becomessignificantly shorter near the center of the left end region in thelongitudinal direction.

When the period of time elapsed since the user has scrolled an image isnot equal to or less than the predetermined threshold period (Step S401:N), the region determination unit 123 sets the operation start region tothe reference region (Step S403).

Next, FIG. 4B is a flowchart for illustrating processing of determiningthe operation start region when the user performs swiping beforeunderstanding the content in a period immediately after imagetransition. “Image transition” in this embodiment means transition ofcontent displayed on the screen from one application window to anotherapplication window. “Image transition” does not include the case of thecontent displayed on the screen moving in a sliding manner by scrolling.In this context, “period immediately after image transition” means aperiod of time that is too short for the user to fully understand thecontent of an image (for example, read text) displayed as a result ofthe image transition. When the user performs swiping again in thisperiod, the information processing apparatus 100 can determine that theuser is highly likely to find that the content displayed as a result ofthe image transition differs from the original intention beforeunderstanding the content and try to return to the previous image. Inshort, immediately after the user instructs image transition, edgeswiping is more likely to be performed than swiping for scrolling animage. In such a case, in this embodiment, the information processingapparatus 100 sets the operation start region so that the user'soperation is more likely to be determined as an operation for returningto the previous image, that is, so as to facilitate edge swiping.

In this case, in the processing of FIG. 3, the operation statusacquisition unit 121 does not need to acquire the operation statusinformation. The display state acquisition unit 122 acquires a period oftime elapsed since the image has transitioned as the display stateinformation (Step S302). For example, the display state acquisition unit122 holds a time at which data of an image after the image transition isoutput to the display 108, and acquires a period of time elapsed fromthat time to the current time.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the elapsedperiod of time acquired by the display state acquisition unit 122 isequal to or less than a predetermined threshold period (Step S404). Whenthe period of time is equal to or less than the threshold period (StepS404: Y), the region determination unit 123 sets the operation startregion larger than the reference region (Step S405). For example, theregion determination unit 123 sets the operation start region such thatthe perpendicular distance from the end of the input surface is longerthan that of the reference region. The region determination unit 123 mayprepare a region larger than the reference region as the operation startregion in advance. In other cases, the region determination unit 123 maydynamically deform the reference region depending on the period of timeelapsed since the image has transitioned, to thereby set the operationstart region. For example, the region determination unit 123 sets theoperation start region larger as the period of time elapsed since theimage has transitioned becomes shorter. Further, the regiondetermination unit 123 may deform the shape of the operation startregion such that the distance from the end of the input surface becomessignificantly longer near the center of the left end region of thereference region in the longitudinal direction.

When the period of time elapsed since the image has transitioned is notequal to or less than the predetermined threshold period (Step S404: N),the region determination unit 123 sets the operation start region to thereference region (Step S406).

FIG. 4C is a flowchart for illustrating processing of determining theoperation start region based on a scrollable amount of a displayedimage.

In this case, in the processing of FIG. 3, the operation statusacquisition unit 121 does not need to acquire the operation statusinformation. The display state acquisition unit 122 acquires thescrollable amount of the displayed image as the display stateinformation (Step S302). For example, the display state acquisition unit122 acquires a scrollable amount of “0” as the display state informationwhen the image is an unscrollable image or when the image is scrolled tothe maximum extent possible and cannot be scrolled any more. As thescrollable amount becomes larger, the display state acquisition unit 122sets the scrollable amount in the display state information to a largervalue. The scrollable amount is represented by, for example, a distancenecessary to reach the scroll limit when the user actually scrolls animage. Further, the scrollable amount is acquired for each of top,bottom, left, and right directions, and for example, the scrollableamount for the right direction is used to determine the operation startregion of the left end portion of the input surface.

The region determination unit 123 sets the operation start region basedon the scrollable amount acquired by the display state acquisition unit122 (Step S407). For example, the region determination unit 123 sets theoperation start region larger as the scrollable amount becomes smallerso as to facilitate edge swiping, whereas the region determination unit123 sets the operation start region smaller as the scrollable amountbecomes larger so as to facilitate swiping. The region determinationunit 123 may hold data of the operation start region that is setdepending on the scrollable amount as a table in advance, or maycalculate a perpendicular distance from the end of the screen using amathematical expression, to set the operation start region. The regiondetermination unit 123 may modify the operation start region dependingon whether the image is an unscrollable image or an image that has beenscrolled to the maximum extent possible and cannot be scrolled. Forexample, when the image is an unscrollable image, the user has nopossibility of scrolling the image. Thus, the region determination unit123 sets the operation start region larger so as to facilitate edgeswiping. Therefore, in the case of an unscrollable image, the scrollableamount may be set to a value that can be distinguished from a normalscrollable amount, e.g., “−1”.

FIG. 4D is a flowchart for illustrating processing of determining theoperation start region such that the user can easily scroll an imagewhen understanding the content.

In the processing of FIG. 3, the operation status acquisition unit 121acquires a period of time elapsed since the user has completed anoperation as the operation status information (Step S301). For example,the operation status acquisition unit 121 holds a time at which the userhas completed an operation last time, and acquires a period of timeelapsed from that time to the current time. The display stateacquisition unit 122 acquires the information quantity of displayedcontent as the display state information (Step S302). For example, thedisplay state acquisition unit 122 acquires, for example, the number ofcharacters displayed on the screen, and the number and sizes of imagesdisplayed on the screen, as the information quantity of the content.

The region determination unit 123 calculates a period of time necessaryfor the user to understand the content based on the information quantityof the content acquired by the display state acquisition unit 122 (StepS408). The region determination unit 123 holds a table in which a periodof time necessary for the user to understand each content is set, forexample, 0.1 second for one character, 0.2 second for a small image, and0.3 second for a large image. The region determination unit 123 refersto the table, applies those periods of time to all the displayedcontents, and calculates the period of time necessary for the user tounderstand the contents.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the periodof time elapsed since the user has completed an operation acquired bythe operation status acquisition unit 121 is equal to or more than theperiod of time necessary for the user to understand the content (StepS409). When the period of time elapsed since the user has completed anoperation is equal to or more than the period of time necessary for theuser to understand the content (Step S409: Y), the region determinationunit 123 sets the operation start region smaller than the referenceregion (Step S410). The processing of the region determination unit 123is the same as the processing of Step S402, but the processing may becarried out in any manner as long as the operation start region can beset smaller than the reference region. When the period of time elapsedsince the user has completed an operation is less than the period oftime necessary for the user to understand the content (Step S409: N),the region determination unit 123 sets the operation start region to thereference region (Step S411).

The region determination unit 123 may return the operation start regionto the reference region when the period of time since the user hascompleted an operation is more than the period of time necessary for theuser to understand the content by a certain amount or more. This isbecause whether or not the user is likely to scroll an image cannot bedetermined after no operation is performed for a long period of time.

Now, a description is given of a specific operation example of theinformation processing apparatus 100 with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 4Ato FIG. 4D, and FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D. FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D are each anexplanatory diagram for illustrating processing of determining theoperation start region. An input/output unit 500 is the touch panel 111.The input/output unit 500 sets the lateral direction of FIG. 5A to FIG.5D as an x-axis, and the longitudinal direction as a y-axis. The inputsurface of the input/output unit 500 may be an entire surface of thetouch sensor 107, or a part thereof. A finger 501 of the user, which isa pointer, inputs an instruction to the information processing apparatus100 by the user performing a touch operation on the input surface of theinput/output unit 500. In this embodiment, the operation start region502 is placed at the left end portion of the input surface in thefigures. A scroll bar 503 indicates the scrollable amount of a displayedimage by length, and indicates in which direction the displayed imagecan be scrolled by position. In FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D, the scroll bar 503is displayed at the bottom of the screen in order to describe an exampleof scrolling in left and right directions.

FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram corresponding to the processing ofFIG. 4A, and represents processing of setting the operation start regionsuch that the user can easily perform swiping immediately afterscrolling an image.

At a time t1, the user swipes the input surface with the finger 501 inorder to perform scrolling on the input/output unit 500. At this time,the operation start region 502 is set to the reference region. Theinformation processing apparatus 100 starts the processing of theflowchart of FIG. 3 because a change in operation status, which is thestart of a touch operation with the finger 501, is detected. Theoperation status acquisition unit 121 acquires the touch operation startstatus as the latest operation status information after the change (StepS301). At this time, the operation status acquisition unit 121 holds acurrent touch position, which is located outside the operation startregion, as the touch start position. The display state acquisition unit122 does not perform any processing. The region determination unit 123does not perform any processing because the user has not scrolled theimage yet (Step S401: N) and the operation start region has already beenset to the reference region (Step S403).

At a time t2, the user swipes the input surface of the input/output unit500 with the finger 501 in the right direction. The informationprocessing apparatus 100 starts the processing of the flowchart of FIG.3 because the change in operation status, which is the continuation ofthe touch operation with the finger 501, is detected. The informationprocessing apparatus 100 determines the touch operation as swipingbecause the touch start position held at the time t1 is located outsidethe operation start region 502 (refer to FIG. 2). The operation statusacquisition unit 121 acquires swiping, that is, the operation statusrepresenting that the user has performed scrolling, as the latestoperation status information after the change (Step S301). The displaystate acquisition unit 122 does not perform any processing. The regiondetermination unit 123 performs the same processing as that at the timet1 because the user has not completed the scroll operation (Step S401:N, Step S403).

At a time t3, the user finishes swiping and takes the finger 501 off theinput surface. The information processing apparatus 100 starts theprocessing of the flowchart of FIG. 3 because the change in operationstatus, which is the completion of the touch operation, is detected. Theoperation status acquisition unit 121 holds the current time, which is atime at which the user has scrolled an image, as the latest operationstatus information after the change in response to completion of swiping(scrolling) (Step S301). Further, the operation status acquisition unit121 acquires the period of time elapsed since the user has scrolled animage as the operation status information. The display state acquisitionunit 122 does not perform any processing.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the periodof time elapsed since the user has scrolled an image, which is acquiredas the operation status information, is equal to or less than thethreshold period (Step S401). This threshold period is determined basedon, for example, a period of time until the user scrolls an image nextwhen the user continuously scrolls the image. In this embodiment, forexample, the threshold period is set to 1 second. At the time t3, only alittle period of time has passed since the user has scrolled an image(Step S401: Y). Thus, the region determination unit 123 sets theoperation start region 502 smaller than the reference region (StepS402). In this example, the operation start region 502 is set thinnerthan the reference region.

The processing at the time t3 is repeatedly executed until the period oftime elapsed since the user has scrolled an image reaches 1 second,which is the threshold period. In this manner, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 sets the operation start region smaller so asto facilitate scrolling because the user is likely to continuouslyscroll (swipe) an image within a predetermined period of time since theuser has scrolled the image.

At a time t4, the user finishes swiping and the threshold period (1second) or more has passed. The information processing apparatus 100starts the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 3 because the change inoperation status, which is the passage of the threshold period or moresince the user has completed the touch operation, is detected. Theoperation status acquisition unit 121 acquires the period of timeelapsed since the user has scrolled an image as the latest operationstatus information after the change (Step S301). In this case, theelapsed period of time is assumed to be 1.1 seconds. The display stateacquisition unit 122 does not perform any processing.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the periodof time elapsed since the user has scrolled an image (1.1 seconds),which is acquired as the operation status information, is equal to orless than the threshold period (1 second) (Step S401). The elapsedperiod of time is longer than the threshold period (Step S401: N), andthus the region determination unit 123 returns the operation startregion to the reference region (Step S403).

In this manner, the information processing apparatus 100 sets theoperation start region smaller than the reference region such that theuser can easily perform swiping immediately after scrolling an image.Therefore, the user can easily scroll an image again after scrolling theimage.

FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram corresponding to the processing ofFIG. 4B, and represents processing of setting the operation start regionsuch that the user can easily perform edge swiping immediately after theimage has transitioned.

At the time t1, an “image 1” is displayed on the display screen of theinput/output unit 500, and the operation start region 502 is set to thereference region. At this time, the operation status of the user and thedisplay state of the screen are not changed, and thus the informationprocessing apparatus 100 does not perform any processing.

At the time t2, the “image 1” transitions to an “image 2” for display onthe display screen of the input/output unit 500. The informationprocessing apparatus 100 starts the processing of the flowchart of FIG.3 because the change in display state, which is the image transition, isdetected. On the other hand, the operation status acquisition unit 121does not perform any processing because there is no change in operationstatus. The display state acquisition unit 122 acquires the imagetransition status as the display state information (Step S302). Thedisplay state acquisition unit 122 holds a time at which the imagetransition is complete, and acquires a period of time elapsed since theimage transition has been completed as the display state information.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the periodof time elapsed since the image transition has been completed is equalto or less than a threshold period (Step S404). The threshold period isset to, for example, 1 second as a period of time for, for example,returning to the previous image after transitioning to a wrong image. Atthe time t2, only a little period of time has passed since the imagetransition has been completed, and thus the elapsed period of time isequal to or less than the threshold period (Step S404: Y). In this case,the region determination unit 123 sets the operation start region 502larger than the reference region (Step S405).

The processing at the time t2 is repeatedly executed until the period oftime elapsed since the image transition has been completed reaches 1second or more, which is the threshold period. In this manner, theinformation processing apparatus 100 sets the operation start regionlarger so as to facilitate edge swiping because the user is likely toreturn to the previous image when transitioning to and swiping a wrongimage before understanding the content.

At the time t3, the threshold period (1 second) or more has passed sincethe “image 1” has transitioned to the “image 2” for display on thedisplay screen of the input/output unit 500. The information processingapparatus 100 starts the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 3 becausethe change in operation status, which is the passage of the thresholdperiod or more since the image transition has been completed, isdetected. There is no change in operation status, and thus the operationstatus acquisition unit 121 does not perform any processing. The displaystate acquisition unit 122 acquires the period of time elapsed since theimage transition has been completed as the display state information(Step S302). In this case, the elapsed period of time is assumed to be1.1 seconds.

The region determination unit 123 determines whether or not the periodof time elapsed since the image transition has been completed (1.1seconds), which is acquired as the display state information, is equalto or less than the threshold period (1 second) (Step S404). The elapsedperiod of time is longer than the threshold period (Step S401: N), andthus the region determination unit 123 returns the operation startregion to the reference region (Step S406).

In this manner, the information processing apparatus 100 sets theoperation start region larger than the reference region such that theuser can easily perform edge swiping immediately after the image hastransitioned. As a result, the user can easily perform edge swiping forreturning to the previous image when transitioning to a wrong image.

FIG. 5C is an explanatory diagram corresponding to the processing ofFIG. 4C, and represents processing of setting the operation start regionso as to facilitate edge swiping when the scrollable amount of an imageis small and to facilitate swiping when the scrollable amount of animage is large.

At the time t1, an unscrollable image is displayed on the display screenof the input/output unit 500. The information processing apparatus 100starts processing of the flowchart of FIG. 3 because the change indisplay state, which is the display of the unscrollable image, isdetected. The operation status acquisition unit 121 does not perform anyprocessing. The display state acquisition unit 122 acquires thescrollable amount of “−1” representing that an unscrollable image isdisplayed as the display state information (Step S302). The regiondetermination unit 123 sets the operation start region 502 to be thelargest based on the scrollable amount of “−1” acquired as the displaystate information (Step S407). The operation start region 502 ismaintained until the display state of the image is changed.

At the time t2, an image that is scrollable but has reached the scrolllimit so that the image can no longer be scrolled in the right directionis displayed on the display screen of the input/output unit 500. Theinformation processing apparatus 100 starts the processing of theflowchart of FIG. 3 because the change in display state, which is thedisplay of the image that has reached the scroll limit, is detected. Theoperation status acquisition unit 121 does not perform any processing.The display state acquisition unit 122 acquires the scrollable amount of“0” representing that the image has reached the scroll limit as thedisplay state information (Step S302). The region determination unit 123sets the operation start region 502 larger than the reference regionbased on the scrollable amount of “0” acquired as the display stateinformation (Step S407). The operation start region 502 is maintaineduntil the display state of the image is changed.

At the time t3, an image having a small scrollable amount is displayedon the display screen of the input/output unit 500. The informationprocessing apparatus 100 starts the processing of the flowchart of FIG.3 because the change in display state, which is the display of the imagehaving a small scrollable amount, is detected. The operation statusacquisition unit 121 does not perform any processing. The display stateacquisition unit 122 acquires a scrollable amount, for example, “50” asthe display state information (Step S302). In this embodiment, thescrollable amount is represented in units of dots, which are theresolution of a screen. However, dots may be rounded by mathematicalexpressions to be used, or the scrollable distance may actually bemeasured and represented in other units, e.g., millimeters. The regiondetermination unit 123 sets the operation start region 502 smaller thanthe reference region based on the scrollable amount of “50” (Step S407).The operation start region 502 is maintained until the display state ofthe image is changed.

At the time t4, an image having a large scrollable amount is displayedon the display screen of the input/output unit 500. The informationprocessing apparatus 100 starts the processing of the flowchart of FIG.3 because the change in display state, which is the display of the imagehaving a large scrollable amount, is detected. The operation statusacquisition unit 121 does not perform any processing. The display stateacquisition unit 122 acquires a scrollable amount, for example, “100” asthe display state information (Step S302). The region determination unit123 sets the operation start region 502 smaller than the referenceregion based on the scrollable amount of “100” (Step S407). Thescrollable amount at the time t4 is larger than that at the time t3, andthus the operation start region 502 at the time t4 is smaller than thatat the time t3. The operation start region 502 is maintained until thedisplay state of the image is changed.

In this manner, the information processing apparatus 100 sets theoperation start region larger than the reference region so as tofacilitate edge swiping because, when the image is unscrollable or hasreached the scroll limit, the user is likely not to scroll the image andto return to the previous image. When the image is scrollable, theinformation processing apparatus 100 sets the operation start regionbased on the scrollable amount. A larger scrollable amount means a highpossibility of the user scrolling (swiping) the image by a largeramount. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 100 sets theoperation start region smaller so as to facilitate swiping.

FIG. 5D is an explanatory diagram corresponding to the processing ofFIG. 4D, and represents processing of calculating a period of timenecessary for the user to understand content based on the informationquantity of the displayed content and setting the operation start regionbased on the calculated period of time. When the period of time forunderstanding the content has passed, the operation start region is setso as to facilitate swiping.

At the time t1, the user is scrolling an image, and the operation startregion 502 is set to the reference region. Although the change inoperation status, which is scrolling in action, is detected, theinformation processing apparatus 100 does not perform any processing atthis timing in this example.

At the time t2, the user has finished scrolling the image. Theinformation processing apparatus 100 starts the processing of theflowchart of FIG. 3 because the change in operation status, which is thecompletion of the user's operation, is detected. The operation statusacquisition unit 121 holds the current time, which is a time at whichthe user has completed the operation, and acquires a period of timeelapsed since the user has completed the operation (non-operationperiod) as the latest operation status information after the change(Step S301). The display state acquisition unit 122 acquires theinformation quantity of the displayed content as the display stateinformation (Step S302). In FIG. 5D, four large images are displayed,and the display state acquisition unit 122 acquires this information asthe information quantity of the content.

The region determination unit 123 calculates the period of timenecessary for the user to understand the content based on theinformation quantity of the content acquired by the display stateacquisition unit 122 (Step S408). In this case, four large images aredisplayed, and the period of time necessary for the user to understandthe content is 1.2 seconds, which is four times 0.3 second. The regiondetermination unit 123 determines whether or not the non-operationperiod acquired by the operation status acquisition unit 121 is equal toor more than the period of time necessary for the user to understand thecontent (1.2 seconds) (Step S409). The time t2 is when the user has justcompleted the operation, and thus the non-operation period has notreached the period of time necessary for the user to understand thecontent (Step S409: N). Thus, the region determination unit 123 sets theoperation start region to the reference region (Step S411). At the timet2, the region determination unit 123 does not need to performprocessing of setting the operation start region because the operationstart region has already been set to the reference region at the timet1.

At the time t3, the period of time necessary for the user to understandthe content after the user has scrolled the image or more has passed.The information processing apparatus 100 starts the processing of theflowchart of FIG. 3 because the change in operation status, which is thepassage of the period of time necessary for the user to understand thecontent (1.2 seconds) or more by the non-operation period, is detected.The operation status acquisition unit 121 acquires the non-operationperiod (e.g., 1.3 seconds) as the latest operation status informationafter the change (Step S301). The display state acquisition unit 122does not acquire the latest display state information because there isno change in the display of the image.

The region determination unit 123 calculates the period of timenecessary for the user to understand the content (1.2 seconds) with thesame display state information as that at the time t2 because thedisplay state acquisition unit 122 does not acquire the latest displaystate information (Step S408). In this case, the region determinationunit 123 may hold the period of time calculated at the previousprocessing, and set the held period of time as the period of timenecessary for the user to understand the content when the latest displaystate information is not acquired. The region determination unit 123determines whether or not the non-operation period acquired by theoperation status acquisition unit 121 is equal to or more than theperiod of time necessary for the user to understand the content (1.2seconds) (Step S409). At the time t3, the non-operation period is “1.3seconds”, and thus the region determination unit 123 determines that theperiod of time necessary for the user to understand the content or morehas passed (Step S409: Y). Thus, the region determination unit 123 setsthe operation start region smaller than the reference region (StepS410). As a result, the operation start region 502 is placed so as to besmaller than the reference region in the x-axis direction as illustratedin FIG. 5D at the time t3. In this manner, when there is no operationduring the period of time necessary for the user to understand thecontent, the information processing apparatus 100 determines that theuser is likely to have checked the content and scroll (swipe) the imageto check the next content. Therefore, the information processingapparatus 100 sets the operation start region 502 smaller so as tofacilitate swiping.

The information processing apparatus 100 may maintain the operationstart region after the time t3. However, in this embodiment, theinformation processing apparatus 100 returns the operation start regionto the reference region after a predetermined period of time (e.g., 10seconds) elapses additionally. The time t4 represents a state in which aperiod of time (12 seconds) that is equal to or more than thepredetermined period of time has elapsed since the time t3. The periodof time (12 seconds) that is equal to or more than the predeterminedperiod of time (10 seconds) has elapsed in addition to the period oftime necessary for the user to understand the content (1.2 seconds), andthus the region determination unit 123 sets the operation start regionto the reference region.

The information processing apparatus 100 cannot determine whether or notthe user is likely to perform swiping when the user does not perform anyoperation for a long period of time after understanding the content, andthus returns the operation start region to the reference region afterthe predetermined period of time has elapsed. In this embodiment, adescription is given on the assumption that the predetermined period oftime is 10 seconds. However, the predetermined period of time is notlimited thereto, and may be varied depending on the period of timenecessary for the user to understand the content. For example, when theperiod of time necessary for the user to understand the content is long,an error in time until the user finishes checking the content is large,resulting in the longer predetermined period of time.

As described above, the information processing apparatus 100 in thisembodiment can determine the operation start region for determining edgeswiping based on the operation status of the user and the display stateof an image. As a result, the user can easily scroll the image or returnto the previous image in accordance with his or her intention, and theoperability is therefore improved.

The information processing apparatus 100 may set the operation startregion using two or more of the various setting conditions of theoperation start region in combination, which are illustrated in FIG. 4Ato FIG. 4D. Now, a description is given of processing of determining theoperation start region using all the region setting conditions incombination with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating processing of determining theoperation start region. Processing of each step has been described withreference to FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D, and thus details thereof are omittedhere. In FIG. 6, the information processing apparatus 100 performs theoperation start region setting processing in order of FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B,FIG. 4D, and FIG. 4C. In FIG. 6, among the various setting conditions ofthe operation start region illustrated in FIG. 4A to FIG. 4D, acondition whose determination is executed first is prioritized insetting of the operation start region. Therefore, a condition that isdesired to be reflected by the user may be set in advance to bedetermined first.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are each an exemplary table for showing conditionsof setting the operation start region. The information processingapparatus 100 holds the tables shown in FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B in the ROM102, the RAM 103, or the external storage device 109 in advance, andsets the operation start region by referring to the tables as necessary.

FIG. 7A is an exemplary table for setting a priority for each settingcondition of the operation start region. The information processingapparatus 100 determines the region setting condition in accordance withthe priority. This table is rewritable, and the user can specify thesetting condition of the operation start region in accordance with hisor her desired priority. Further, the information processing apparatus100 may learn the operation of the user to change the priority of thesetting condition of the operation start region. In the example of FIG.7A, the processing of FIG. 4B is set to be prioritized highest, whereasthe processing of FIG. 4C is set to be prioritized lowest.

Through use of those tables, when a plurality of setting conditions ofthe operation start region are satisfied at the same time, a settingcondition having a high priority is prioritized and the operation startregion is set in accordance with the condition desired by the user.Therefore, the operability of edge swiping and swiping is improved in amanner that conforms to the intention of the user.

FIG. 7B is an exemplary table for weighting each setting condition ofthe operation start region and setting the change amount of theoperation start region. The information processing apparatus 100 setsthe operation start region in accordance with the change amount of theoperation start region when a setting condition of the operation startregion is satisfied.

For example, when an image containing large content is displayed afteran image is scrolled, the information processing apparatus 100calculates the period of time necessary for the user to understand thecontent (0.3 second) based on the information quantity of the content(Step S408 of FIG. 4D). At this time, when the non-operation period isequal to or more than 0.3 second, and 1 second or less has elapsed sincethe user has scrolled the image, two setting conditions are satisfied atthe same time.

In this case, the information processing apparatus 100 sets theoperation start region by shortening the perpendicular distance of thereference region from the end of the screen by 80 dots, which areobtained by multiplying a change amount “20 dots” by a weight “4”,because the condition of the period of time since the user has scrolledan image is satisfied as shown in FIG. 7B. At the same time, theinformation processing apparatus 100 sets the operation start region byshortening the perpendicular distance of the reference region from theend of the screen by 20 dots, which are obtained by multiplying a changeamount “20 dots” by a weight “1”, because the condition of thenon-operation period is also satisfied as shown in FIG. 7B.

As a result, the operation start region is set by shortening theperpendicular distance of the reference region from the end of thescreen by 100 dots, which is a sum of 80 dots and 20 dots in total. Inthis manner, the operation start region can be set considering aplurality of setting conditions of the operation start region incombination, to thereby improve the accuracy of determining edge swipingand swiping.

Other Embodiments

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2015-220567, filed Nov. 10, 2015 which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the information processingapparatus to: detect a touch position on an input surface of apredetermined display touched with a predetermined pointer; set a sizeof a specific region at an end portion of the input surface based on atleast one of an operation status having been performed with thepredetermined pointer and a display state of an image displayed on thepredetermined display, wherein the specific region is not explicitlydisplayed in the predetermined display, and, even in a case where thesize of the specific region is changed based on the operation status orthe display state, the change in the specific region does not affect theimage displayed on the predetermined display; receive, depending on astart point of a linear locus of the touch position not being inside thespecific region on the input surface, the linear locus of the touchposition as a first operation and receive, depending on the start pointof the linear locus of the touch position being inside the specificregion on the input surface, the linear locus of the touch position as asecond operation different from the first operation; and change thedisplay state of the image displayed on the predetermined display byreflecting the received first operation or second operation.
 2. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theinstructions executed by the one or more processors further cause theinformation processing apparatus to acquire operation status informationrepresenting the operation status based on the touch position acquiredby the position detection unit at a predetermined time interval and adetection time of the touch position; and acquire display stateinformation representing the display state of the image that isdisplayed on the predetermined display, wherein the size of the specificregion is set based on at least one of the operation status informationand the display state information.
 3. The information processingapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the acquired operation statusinformation includes at least one of a period of time since an operationwith use of the predetermined pointer has been completed and a period oftime during which an operation with use of the predetermined pointer isnot performed.
 4. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein the acquired display state information includes atleast one of a period of time since an image that is displayed on thepredetermined display has transitioned to a new image for display and aninformation quantity of content contained in a displayed image.
 5. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inputsurface comprises at least a part of a display screen of thepredetermined display, wherein the instructions executed by the one ormore processors further cause the information processing apparatus todetermine a position of the specific region as an end portion of thedisplay screen of the predetermined display, and wherein the linearlocus of the touch position is received as the second operation in acase where the linear locus of the touch position on the input surfacestarts from inside the specific region toward an inner side of the inputsurface.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein a priority is set for each of the operation status and thedisplay state, and the size of the specific region is set in accordancewith the priority.
 7. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein each of the operation status and the display state isweighted, and the size of the specific region is set in accordance withthe weight.
 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein the size of the specific region is set to correspond to areference region defined in advance, in a case where a period of timeelapsed since the image has been scrolled is more than a predeterminedthreshold period, and the size of the specific region is set tocorrespond to a region different from the reference region, in a casewhere the period of time is equal to or less than the predeterminedthreshold period.
 9. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein the size of the specific region is set to be smallerthan the reference region, in a case where the period of time is equalto or less than the predetermined threshold period.
 10. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a shape of thespecific region is set to be different from a shape of the referenceregion, in a case where the period of time is equal to or less than thepredetermined threshold period.
 11. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the specific region is dynamicallydeformed depending on a period of time elapsed since the image has beenscrolled, and an operation start region is set to be smaller as theperiod of time elapsed since the image has been scrolled becomesshorter.
 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the size of the specific region is set to correspond to areference region defined in advance, in a case where a period of timeelapsed since an image that is displayed on the predetermined displayhas transitioned is more than a predetermined threshold period, and thesize of the specific region is set to correspond to a region larger thanthe reference region, in a case where the period of time is equal to orless than the predetermined threshold period.
 13. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the size of thespecific region is changed based on a scrollable amount by which animage that is displayed on the predetermined display is capable of beingscrolled and the size of the specific region is set larger as thescrollable amount by which an image that is displayed on thepredetermined display is capable of being scrolled becomes smaller. 14.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thesize of the specific region is changed based on a comparison between aperiod of time elapsed since an operation has been performed on theinput surface last time and a period of time necessary for a user tounderstand content contained in the image.
 15. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the size of thespecific region is set to correspond to a reference region defined inadvance, in a case where the period of time elapsed since an operationhas been performed on the input surface last time is less than theperiod of time necessary for a user to understand content contained inthe image, and the size of the specific region is set to correspond to aregion smaller than the reference region, in a case where the period oftime is equal to or more than the period of time necessary for a user tounderstand content contained in the image.
 16. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first operationis an instruction for scrolling the image being displayed on thepredetermined display.
 17. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the first operation is an instruction forscrolling the image being displayed on the predetermined display, andthe second operation is an instruction for changing the image beingdisplayed on the predetermined display to a different image.
 18. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firstoperation is an instruction for scrolling the image being displayed onthe predetermined display, and the second operation is an instructionfor changing the image being displayed on the predetermined display toreturn to an image previously displayed.
 19. An operation determinationmethod, which is executed by an information processing apparatus thatdetects a touch position on an input surface of a predetermined displaytouched with a predetermined pointer, the operation determination methodcomprising: setting a size of specific region at an end portion of theinput surface based on at least one of an operation status having beenperformed with the predetermined pointer and a display state of an imagedisplayed on the predetermined display, wherein the specific region isnot explicitly displayed in the predetermined display, and, even in acase where the size of the specific region is changed based on theoperation status or the display state, the change in the specific regiondoes not affect the image displayed on the predetermined display;receiving, depending on a start point of a linear locus of the touchposition not being inside the specific region, the linear locus of thetouch position as a first operation; receiving, depending on the startpoint of the linear locus of the touch position being inside thespecific region on the input surface, the linear locus of the touchposition as a second operation different from the first operation on theimage; and changing the display state of the image having been displayedon the predetermined display by reflecting the first operation or thesecond operation.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored thereon a computer program for causing a computer thatdetects a touch position on an input surface of a predetermined displaytouched with a predetermined pointer to: set a size of a specific regionat an end portion of the input surface based on at least one of anoperation status having been performed with the predetermined pointerand a display state of an image displayed on the predetermined display,wherein the specific region is not explicitly displayed in thepredetermined display, and, even in a case where the size of thespecific region is changed based on the operation status or the displaystate, the change in the specific region does not affect the imagedisplayed on the predetermined display; receive, depending on a startpoint of a linear locus of the touch position not being inside thespecific region on the input surface, the linear locus of the touchposition as a first operation and receive, depending on the start pointof the linear locus of the touch position being inside the specificregion on the input surface, the linear locus of the touch position as asecond operation different from the first operation; and change thedisplay state of the image displayed on the predetermined display byreflecting the received first operation or second operation.